THE

Vol. XXIV No. 3 Brentwood Christian School

Bear FactsINSHORT

New teacher

December 2011

see pg. 4

Two tons of food

see pg. 5

BCS Christmas rich with tradition, giving

Program challenges students to show kindnessJog-a-fun prizes

Lady Bears look sharp as district nears

BCS students collected more than 4,400 items of food last month and delivered more than 4,000 lbs. of food items to the Capital Area Food Bank. Food Bank officials said this was enough to provide more than 3,000 meals for local families.

Jessica Love’s sophomore girls col-lected the most cans per student in the high school, and they were awarded a half day off of school to work at the Round Rock Service Center on Dec. 5. Karen Peyton’s sixth-grade study hall won the middle school division, and they served at the center on Dec. 6.

Diane Troutman’s kindergarten won the elementary division, and they will travel to Village Christian Apartments Dec. 13 to sing for the residents and bring them some Christmas cards and decorations they made.

dennis CLIFFORDreporter

megan MONACELLIeditor-in-chief

Like a knife Junior Priscilla Glenn leads the JV girls up the court in a 22-18 loss at Waco Reicher on Nov. 1. The JV and varsity teams are three weeks from district play.

photo: Mark Merkord

see CHRISTMAS, page 8

Traditions appear everywhere in our lives, from when we brush our teeth to how we eat our meals, yet there is no time at which tra-dition is more concentrated than at Christmas time. Christmas is tradition. Tradition is sing-ing carols, cutting trees, baking cookies, and giving gifts. While we celebrate Christ’s birth,

the world celebrates a holiday of giving and be-ing thankful. As Christians we should strive to use this opportunity to show the world what it truly means to give.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas there is a lot of giving – giving of time, giving of money, and giving of gifts. Although most

small children are taught that giving is more beneficial to the giver, it often seems to them that giving is much more fun if they are the re-ceiver. As children grow, they find out through their own experiences that, “It is far better to

Still more than three weeks away from beginning their district schedule on Jan. 3, the BCS Lady Bears’ basketball team is 8-3.

The team is in Houston this weekend to play in the Cypress Community Tournament.

Led by senior Brittany Brunson’s 16 points per game, the girls average about 56 points per game, showing an improvement from last year’s average of 38. They have also been aggressive on defense, forcing turnovers and steals that create offense, and keeping the opponent to a low score.

“We’re very much together as a team,” head coach Devan Loftis said. “We’re strong defensively, but we need a little work on offensive execution.”

Senior Megan Gum leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.

Junior Rachel Orick returned from last year’s knee injury and has proven to be a key player again, averaging 2.7 steals a game. Orick tore the ACL in her right knee in February, preventing her from playing the rest of the season. Brunson said she’s glad Orick is back because “she’s quick, aggressive, and a great teammate.” Her coach agrees.

“Rachel brings a lot of energy and much needed ball handling to the team,” Loftis said.

Following are the team’s recent results:11/3: Hyde Park 65-27 WThe blowout against long-time rivals Hyde

Park was the highlight for the girls that week, according to junior Serena George. Brunson led with 25 points. The Lady Bears scored a quick 20 points in the first quarter followed by 19 in

see LADY BEARS, page 6

Editorial: Lanae Hollingsworth

Alicia Brothers, who taught at BCS 12 years ago, rejoined the faculty as a full-time Spanish teacher on Dec. 1. She replaces Rosemary Henderson, who resigned for family and health reasons. Brothers will teach all el-ementary Spanish classes, middle school Spanish, and Spanish I. Her most recent job was teaching ESL at a local charter school. She and her husband Steve are parents of two BCS students.

Inspiration continues to ripple through the BCS student body after a bullying and violence abatement program held Monday, Dec. 5, told Rachel Scott’s story and challenged students to start a chain reaction of kindness.

Rachel Joy Scott was the first victim at the Columbine High School shooting in Denver, Colo., on April 20, 1999. She was one of 13 who died, and her family has spoken to students around the world about the legacy Rachel left behind through her actions and writings.

Titled “Rachel’s Challenge,” the program at BCS consisted of a morning assembly for

secondary students, a more age-appropriate assembly for elementary, and a community and parent assembly in the evening. A smaller group of secondary students also attended mid-day training for a kindness-promoting club known as Friends of Rachel (FOR).

Audio and video footage of the tragic day and interviews from Rachel’s friends and family were shown at the secondary assembly.

“The assembly was powerful,” senior Bridgette Beck said. “It really shows you the reality of the world around us.”

The speaker gave BCS students five challenges drawn from Rachel’s life and writings. They were to look for the best in others, dare to dream big, choose good influences, use kind

words and practice kind acts, and start a chain reaction. After the assembly, students were invited to sign a banner that read “We accept Rachel’s Challenge!” The banners from both assemblies are now hanging in the cafeteria.

According to elementary principal Dr. Libby Weed, bullying and unkind treatment are present at BCS, and it is mostly attitudinal and teasing.

“(Bullying) is also what the girls call ‘drama,’ trying to play it down as if it’s just normal ‘girl stuff.’” Weed said. “It’s not; it’s mean, unkind, hurtful, and un-Christian.”

The FOR club and the elementary Kindness

see RACHEL’S, page 3

If 90 percent of secondary students turn in 20 actual sponsor letters be-fore Christmas break, Principal Lee and several coaches have agreed to spend 24 hours on the school roof.

Other prizes for turning in letters are similar to those offered last year: Stu-dents who submit at least 20 sponsor letters by Jan. 27 earn a T-shirt; the first elementary class with 100 percent par-ticipation wins a pizza party; and the first mentor group to turn in letters re-ceives an extended off-campus lunch.

Page 2 EditorialsTHE BEAR FACTS December 2011

The Bear FactsBrentwood Christian School

11908 North Lamar Blvd.Austin, TX 78753

The Bear Facts is published monthly by the journalism classes of Brentwood Christian High School. The paper is a learning tool which informs the student body while teaching students to become critical observers of their environment and to validate Truth within the context of the Christian world view.

AdviserJonathan Weed

Editor-in-ChiefMegan Monacelli

Kia KhademHannah Kwon

David LeeJonathon ReichKailey RoddenCharlie Sinclair

E.J. SungM.J. Sung

Matthew ArcherCarter Boyd

Dennis CliffordAnna Ewing

Madalyn GarelickJackson Hager

Lanae HollingsworthJin Ha JeongJoseph Kang

The Bear Facts is available online at www.brentwoodchristian.org.

Should cursive be put to pasture?

Reporters

Photo EditorMary Monacelli

If you couldn’t tell by the cooling weather, the lights going up in the classrooms, or the music coming from the radio, it’s Christmas-time!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. It’s quite obvious to my classmates that I go a bit crazy with excitement. Anyone who has been to my house during this season knows that when it comes to Christmas, my family goes all out. Almost every room in my house has its own miniature tree, and the big noble fir my family buys each year dominates the living room with its size and smell. Christmas music is almost always playing in the background. Oh, and don’t forget presents!

But during all the hustle and bustle, I’ve been having bittersweet feelings about the upcom-ing holiday because this is my last Christmas at home. For the rest of my life, I’ll be visit-ing home for Christmas. This realization hit me a few weeks ago as I was going through toy catalogs with my little brother. It really hit me

Senior Moments: Kailey Rodden

Christmas with family should be highly valuedhard – I’m very close to my family, and for the first time I’ve been starting to imagine my life without seeing them every day. This epiphany, along with the aftermath of my car accident a few weeks ago, has set off a chain reaction which ultimately ends with me clinging to ev-ery moment I have with my family for dear life. Therefore, I have become determined to make this the best Christmas my family has ever had, and I encourage you to do the same (especially seniors!).

Lately, I’ve found that people are getting less and less excited about Christmas. While some prefer other times of the year, more often than not I see that the reason is apathy. They just don’t care either way. To be honest, it grinds my gears a bit. Why wouldn’t you care about the birth of our Savior, or at least spending time with family or getting presents? So I chal-lenge every person reading to be an active part in your family’s holiday celebrations. While it may seem a bit annoying to actually spend

time with your family instead of going out with friends, it really makes the season much more enjoyable. It can also be really fun! Crafts can be a great way to bond with siblings, and help-ing your mom bake scrumptious cookies allows for quality talking time (and yummy food). If you live near grandparents, offer to help them decorate their home. I’ve heard countless sto-ries from my grandparents as we put together the tree. Spending time with your family adds even more sentiment to the holidays.

To my fellow seniors, this Christmas can be spectacular if you let it be. It’s safe to guess that some of your parents are feeling saddened by the upcoming flight from the nest. Taking the time to get closer to your family will mean a lot to them and leave you with great memo-ries to think back on while you’re in college.

So have fun with your family! Make this a Christmas no one will ever forget.

Odds are, you don’t write your essays or do your homework in cursive handwriting. Cursive probably isn’t your preferred form of handwriting, and if it’s not, you probably don’t quite remem-ber every letter in cursive. I’m here to tell you that that’s okay – cursive isn’t all that important, anyways.

Cursive is outdat-ed. I will concede that there was a time when cursive was important (see: Declaration of Inde-pendence, Constitution), but only because it was ubiquitous. Before printing presses were common, people wrote their messag-es by hand, in cursive. If you see cursive everywhere, you are going to learn to write in cursive. However, a new age has arisen. The most common typefaces in the world

are probably as far from cursive as one can get. When you type a research paper or a résumé, you use Arial, not Edwardian Script. Print handwriting resembles what

we see around us. It is used more widely. Print hand-writing is easier to read. With all these things going for it, why would we still teach cursive?

Most students learn cursive in third grade. By third

grade, students have basically mastered print handwriting. For the most part, the handwriting of third grade students is leg-ible, if not quite neat. Why would we then turn around and teach them a brand new and much more complicated style of hand-writing? One thing many teachers and school administrators like to say is that el-ementary students don’t have enough time to learn all the things they need to learn. Cursive handwriting is not necessary, nor is it valuable, and it should be dropped.

Many places in America are one step ahead. Fourty-four states have adopted the Common Core State Standards, which “provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn.” The CCSS does not mention cursive hand-writing at all. In 44 states, instruction in cursive handwriting is no longer required. As an article discussing the matter in the

Gone are the days when you receive cursive, handwritten letters in the mail from friends. Sure, you may receive the occasional birth-day card from Grandma with the greeting, note, and “I love you” scrawled in beautiful loops, but many of you who were taught cur-sive in elementary school reverted back to print handwrit-ing by the time you reached junior high. Cursive handwriting is becoming a lost art, especially in light of the onset of the technological age when typing is an essential skill. But before we completely abandon learning cursive in the first place, we need to identify and consider the value this skill holds.

Cursive handwriting is faster than print because you don’t pick up your pencil be-tween letters. Cursive words are continuous weavings of a single line whereas print words are a combination of choppy, bro-ken up lines. The difference of technique yields a difference in time, and writing more quickly proves to be advantageous in several situations – notably when tak-ing notes for interviews and lectures.

Not only does the technique of cursive writing yield a speedier action, it also develops internal control systems and re-fines fine motor skills that can be used as a tool for learning. Cursive handwriting incorporates movement, pressure, and vi-sual processing which enhances coordina-

tion as well as visual and spatial skills, according to an article by Matthew Geiger of Yahoo’s Associated Content.

Cursive improves dexterity and adroit-ness, and develops the malleable learn-ing skills of elemen-tary-aged students. These learning skills are strength-ened when writing in cursive because the neuron connections in the brain respon-sible for organizing

information and utilizing skills are being exercised, according to neurologist Frank Wilson, author of “The Hand: How its Use Shapes the Brain, Language and Hu-man Culture.” He also says that repetitive cursive handwriting activities “stimulate brain activity, lead to increased language fluency, and aid in the development of important knowledge” in an article pub-lished in The New York Times.

According to neurophysiologist Jean-Luc Velay and Anne Mangen, authors of ar-ticles published in the “Advances in Hap-tics” periodical, learning to write cursively also improves reading skills. Cursive links letters together to form entire words with minimal separate strokes of the pencil. This, therefore, enhances and promotes the student’s recognition and reading of entire words instead of specific, individual let-ters. Writing in cursive stimulates motor

The biggest problem ... is that cursive is taking priority over

composition.

Reading skills (and) fine motor skills are at risk of declining if

cursive is not taught.

No Cursive: Carter Boyd Pro Cursive: Megan Monacelli

see DEBATE, page 6 see DEBATE, page 6

Page 3NewsTHE BEAR FACTS December 2011

‘Spiritual’ day challenges, entertains high school

It seemed like every other day, starting off with students settling into desks, turning in homework, and taking notes. But all of that changed when secondary principal Jared Lee’s voice came on the intercom at the end of second period and announced that the entire high school was to report to the soccer field bleachers.

On Friday, Nov. 11, high school students participated in the first Spiritual Emphasis Day in two years. This event was planned by the school’s Spiritual Life Committee, and while the date for the event had been leaked, it still came as a surprise to many students. This day included tug-of-war games, guest speakers, a fight for golden beans, and a panel of experts who answered questions that had been submit-ted by students a few weeks beforehand.

According to Brentwood Oaks youth minis-ter Adam Herndon, this day had been in plan-ning since the beginning of the school year, when senior Bryan Williams, who is head of the SLC, sent Herndon an e-mail with his idea for the day. But because students said that some such days in previous years had lacked enjoy-ment, the schedule was changed around a bit.

“In general, we wanted the day to have more energy,” Herndon said. “And we wanted to give deep and helpful answers to some big questions our teens were asking.”

After arriving at the soccer field, many games of tug-of-war were held, before the Peyton fam-ily provided free snow cones for the students.

The high school was then herded to the new theater, where guest speaker Jason Herman, the high school student minister at The Hills Church of Christ in Fort Worth, spoke about apathy. He

started by asking all of the students to go out-side, where there was a big pile of brown beans with golden beans spread throughout the pile. He then told students to separate into grades and compete to get the most golden beans in the pile without explaining why. He used this activity to demonstrate how far many people will blindly go to achieve things.

Following that, the students could choose to go to any one of three different discussions: in the church auditorium, Geoff Dunn spoke about what most youth groups really are despite what they should be; in the church cha-pel, Christian Pimentel spoke about what Heaven will be like and how to get there; and in the Youth Center, John Coo-per spoke about whether God would return to Earth, and why He is waiting. All three of these men are local youth ministers who agreed to come speak to students for the day.

After lunch, during which all students could go off campus with permission from a par-ent, the panel began answer-ing some of the many ques-tions students had submitted in their Bible classes. The panel included two professors from Austin Graduate School of Theology, a volunteer co-ordinator at Scott and White Hospital, a local preaching minister, a BCS graduate who is also the mother of BCS stu-dents, and Herndon.

Some students said the timing for the panel was bad, as it was right after lunch, and stu-dents and teachers both fell asleep. But overall, students said the day was a success. Many said they thought the day had been a much more enjoyable experience compared to other years, and many said they’d like to have another be-fore the school year is over.

“I think it was the best one of my high-school career,” senior Duc-Anh Phan said. Brentwood’s sixth-grade classes traveled

to the San Antonio Museum of Art on Nov. 9, where they learned more about Egyptian artifacts. Fifty-one students and two teach-ers readily hopped into parents’ cars and left the school at 7:50 a.m. to go on their first field trip of the year.

A week later, they made their second field trip, going to the Austin Nature Center at Pease Park in downtown Austin. Students studied rocks, minerals, and fossils.

Before the sixth graders went on their first trip, they had already studied Egyptian cul-ture and artifacts, so they actually saw types of artifacts that they had been studying. Teacher Becky Stewart said the purpose of the trip was to observe a permanent Egyp-tian artifacts collection and to complete their Egyptian tomb art project during the exhibition.

Because the trip was less than 90 miles, Stewart said it was a wonderful opportunity for both students and teachers to observe actual objects from ancient Egypt, such as canopic jars, mummy cases, statues, hiero-glyphics, and pieces of tomb walls.

“This makes their study of history come alive,” Stewart said.

When they arrived, the students were di-vided into two groups. One group was as-signed to a hands-on tomb art project. Ac-cording to Stewart, students in this group created Shabtis: figures of servants that were placed in tombs to help the departed one in the afterlife.

Another group was again divided into smaller groups and had docents to take each group on a tour.

Students were accompanied not only by teachers but also parents. The 16 parents who made the trip helped supervise and also got to enjoy the museum.

The same classes went to Pease Park on Nov. 16 to continue their geological studies. In this trip, they took one BCS bus and par-ents’ cars, leaving at 9 a.m. and returning at 1:30 p.m. During the trip, 52 students did hands-on activities with rocks and minerals. Stewart said the purpose of this trip was to help students to learn how to identify fossils and minerals.

After the two-hour program at the Nature Center, students ate their sack lunches and played at the park. Stewart said this was special to sixth graders since they have been moved to middle school and no longer have recess. In this trip parents did not accom-pany the students, but only gave them rides from school to the center and back.

“It was fun to dig for fossils in the creek bed,” sixth-grader Emily Shields said.

Class studies tombs, rocks on field trips

Few good men Senior Diego Cole leads the boyfriends against the girlfriends in tug-of-war on Nov. 11.

Musicians enjoy new venue

The new Iva Lea Worley Barton Theater held its first band concert on Nov. 15 and, two days later, hosted another music concert for fourth and fifth graders. The secondary choir per-formed in the new building on Dec. 8.

Band director Travis Pollard said he was proud of the bands’ accomplishments.

“This is our biggest high school band ever, and they are playing very difficult music at a high level since the spring concert last year,” he said.

Pollard’s parents attended their first BCS band concert, after driving 14 hours from Readyville, Tenn.

On Nov. 17, fourth and fifth graders had an elementary music concert in a packed theater. Though fifth grade used to perform with grades 6-12 in one concert, Pollard and choir director Missy Weaver decided to do something new this year. Fifth-grade band played first, and then the fourth-grade recorder ensemble performed. The elementary choir, made up of fourth and fifth graders, closed the concert.

“Every year we basically start over,” Weaver said. “This year’s groups are very talented, and I’m excited to see how far they will grow.”

The new building brought numerous advan-tages to both musicians and directors: better sound system, better seating, and rehearsal space next door to the band and choir room, which makes the performance space much more accessible for practices.

“Our rehearsals are more productive, and our performances I expect to be top notch,” Weav-er said. “We are grateful every day for such a beautiful place.”

With the fall concert over, Pollard and Weav-er are now planning for the spring concert.

Beginning this year, the school charges a $2 admission to those who are not students or teachers for all concerts in the theater, includ-ing elementary concerts.

According to Pollard, the money will go di-rectly to support music departments. The band and choir need shells to put behind the risers for concerts in the new theater. Also, the choir needs 10 more chairs for their classroom.

“BCS is very dedicated to the fine arts de-partment,” Weaver said. “We see it all the way from our kindergarten classes through high school. And most importantly we see the sup-port from our administration, fellow teachers, and parents. I am proud to work at a school that values the arts.”

joseph KANGreporter

jonathon REICHreporter

photo: Jessica Love

david LEEreporter

continued from page 1

Rachel’s Challenge

and Compassion (KC) club are designed to sustain a positive climate change in the school. Secondary students who attended the FOR club training brainstormed how to “build a culture of kindness and compassion,” according to Dr. Weed. The secondary club will be led by secondary guidance counselor Dr. D’Lanna Mason, and they will meet regularly.

While some students were optimistic about effecting change, others questioned the tactics of the training or had suggestions for improving the assembly.

The full-day program cost $4,800, but the school received $1,000 from A+ Education Foundation after Dr. Weed wrote a grant application. The rest of the costs will be sought through contributions.

Dr. Weed and English teacher Jessica Love said they thought the presentation would have been more powerful and effective if it were grounded in Christian beliefs and eternal principles, particularly since Rachel was a devout Christian herself.

“I hope that as we get the FOR and KC clubs going, we can be specific about following Christ in being kind and compassionate, as Rachel did,” Dr. Weed said.

Page 4 News & FeaturesTHE BEAR FACTS December 2011

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Shannon LeskoSeniors featured in the Bear Facts were selected by a vote held among the entire BCS Class of 2012.

Perky class president leads peers, cheers

STACK Week gets students thinking long-term

Many people are sweet and bubbly, but Brentwood Christian senior Shannon Lesko stands out from that group. Shannon first made her mark on the school when she began attend-ing pre-K in 1998. Since then she has become well known for her go-getter, positive attitude and artistic flair.

Shannon has been on the varsity cheer squad all four years, two as captain. She is the presi-dent of the senior class; she also participates in choir and drama and is a member of NHS. Students and teachers say they love having her in all of these activities because she is so polite and spunky, and she is a great organizer.

“Coming from a self-proclaimed procrasti-nator, I am surprised about how good she is at managing her time,” math teacher Kaleen Graessle says.

Due to Shannon’s artsy nature she is well known for several things: mak-ing posters to hang in the gym; baking delicious cupcakes for friends, classes, or just for fun; and her most famous hobby, decorating shoes. Shannon has a talent at draw-ing, and she ex-presses that by buying white sneakers and drawing dif-ferent pat-terns and p i c t u r e s on them. These have become popular among the secondary students, and she has even begun a little business.

“Each shoe turns out even cuter than the one before,” classmate and long-time friend Katie Clement says.

Shannon has also been told by friends that she is a great party planner. Last year she planned a surprise birthday party for Katie and boyfriend Jackson Graessle, a junior. Shannon even managed to get their favorite band, The

Icarus Account, to perform at the party.Friends say she has an amazing fashion sense,

including an obsession with vintage clothing and antiques. She loves to spend time hunting out treasures at antique malls.

Besides her interest in clothes, she has versatile array of hairstyles.

“She could pull off any hairstyle that she wanted,” sophomore Patti White says.

Senior Laura Combs always tells Shannon that she reminds her of a Cabbage Patch Kid or a sunflower because of her animated, cheery personality and her wardrobe of vintage cloth-ing.

“I am a little bit weird,” Shannon blushingly says in response to Laura’s description of her.

Shannon’s two siblings also attend Brent-wood: Robert, who is in the eighth grade, and Mallory, a sixth grader. She has also been dat-ing Jackson since her sophomore year. Shan-non smiles and blushes when she recalls the

day that he asked her out in Yearbook class, and when he made a cardboard puzzle to

ask her to Junior/Senior Formal.“I think everyone would agree with me when I say that they make a

pretty cute couple,” Katie says.Shannon has made great memories with some of her closest friends, Karlie Mat-tison and Katie. She laughs

when she brings back the memory of her and Ka-tie getting yelled at for

riding bikes around Walmart with pil-lows on the seats to

make them more comfortable.

She also recalls the memory of her

pre-K wedding where she married class-mate Marcus McCor-

mick. Shannon laughs when she describes the

“love triangle” that has been created between her, Kayle Morin, and Marcus, since Kayle’s

and Marcus’s char-acters also got married in “The

Sound of Music.”As for her future plans, Shannon is interested

in attending Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., Seattle Pacific University in Washing-ton, or nearby Baylor University. She would like to major in pre-med or biology and hopes this will lead her into osteopathic medicine.

“Shannon is quiet by nature but a leader on campus, and my two girls think she hung the moon,” Mrs. Graessle says.

Students read books, write, enjoy magic

You did not have to be extremely observant to spot many unusual individuals around the elementary halls and classrooms on Friday, Nov. 11. This, of course, meant one thing: the elementary Book Week had returned to BCS.

During this week students from kindergar-ten through fifth grade participated in differ-ent book-related activities. One of those is the Young Authors Contest, an event in which stu-dents are encouraged to write books of their own that are then judged by parent volunteers. At the end of the week, all 112 students who participated were awarded at an assembly and went to a party afterwards.

This year’s party featured a local magician who performed for about 30 minutes while students had snacks and drinks. According to kindergarten teacher Linda Allen, the party was a success and the kids really enjoyed the magic show.

Allen was in charge of all of the Young Au-thors activities during the week. This included the party for all the kids who participated in the contest, the assembly, and judging. Allen was helped by BCS parents Deborah Ankutse and Frances Fluitt.

“We hope that this will sharpen the students’ writing skills in a fun way,” Allen said, “and maybe they’ll be motivated and say, ‘Hey maybe this is something I’d want to do.’”

Aside from the Young Authors Contest the week had other activities for all students to participate in. This included a local celebrity coming to each of the elementary classrooms and reading a book, and Friday’s dress-up day, in which students were allowed to dress up as their favorite book characters.

Elementary principal Dr. Libby Weed was in charge of making the arrangements for each class to get a celebrity reader. Some of the readers who return every year were Austin American-Statesman sports writers Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden, and TV/radio sportscaster Roger Wallace.

“Our goals for Book Week are to have chil-dren share the joy of reading and to help them understand how important reading will be to them for the rest of their lives,” Dr. Weed said.

Classes also participated in book-ins, in which students bring flashlights and pillows and read their favorite books while scat-tered around their classrooms with the lights off. Another activity the week included was buddy reading. For this, some of the older el-ementary classes paired up with a few of the younger ones and read books with them.

“I hope that Book Week leads our children to recognize what a gift God has given us in language, reading, and writing, and to use that gift more gratefully,” Dr. Weed said.

reportermatthew ARCHER

How many colleges have a Quidditch team? Which college has the oldest football stadium in America and the first structure to use rein-forced concrete?

When BCS middle school students arrived at school on Nov. 7 they were greeted by random facts about college posted on the walls of the lower hall. This was a part of STACK Week.

Start Thinking About College Knowledge Week was made for students in middle school to start thinking about college early.

“I think the week went very well and the stu-dents seemed to enjoy it a lot,” said guidance counselor Dr. D’Lanna Mason, who created

STACK Week with the help of Dr. Brooke Hol-lingsworth, Tere Hager, and Michele Broad-way.

STACK Week was intended to provide more information to middle school students about college choices and to get students talking about college with their friends and family. Based on the positive response, Dr. Mason said she is planning to do something similar next year.

During middle school advisory period, stu-dents participated in several activities which included a mascot crossword, a tuition facts worksheet, a famous alumni matching puzzle, and posting where their parents went to college on a map in the hallway. During morning as-semblies on Monday and Friday, some middle

school students won prizes and had grade-on-grade competitions. At Friday’s assembly, ACU representative Tunisia Singleton, who is the parent of three BCS alumni and a former employee of Brentwood, talked to students about the importance of thinking about college early and getting in the habit of studying and taking notes.

Some students said the week was fun and in-teresting, but others expressed concern about losing their morning study hall. The eighth-grade students seemed to enjoy the week less than the younger grades did, and some claimed that the week did not really change their opin-ion about college. Some also admitted that their attention span was questionable and the week got repetitive after awhile.

charlie SINCLAIRreporter

madalyn GARELICKreporter

photo: submitted

Page 5FeaturesTHE BEAR FACTS December 2011

Hunter returns love to school where she beganTEACHER FEATURE: Carrie Hunter

As a BCS student, Carrie Hunter had no idea her relationship with the school would continue even after she graduated.

Hunter says she came back to Brentwood because she could not forget the impact the teachers and students of the school had on her back when she was a student (Class of 2001). Now in her seventh year teaching fifth graders at Brentwood Christian, she is an experienced teacher.

“My teachers helped me see the world through the eyes of a Christian,” Hunter says. “I was surrounded with men and women of faith, and my friends challenged me to grow in my own faith.”

Hunter always adored children, and after her extraordinary experience in BCS, where she began attending in sixth grade, she says she wants to affect her students in the same way. She seeks to lead her students to love the Lord, and help to find each student’s gifts and de-velop them.

“Fifth grade is an exciting year,” Hunter says. “Students experience many new things: playing sports, doing fine arts, and even receiv-ing new binders for the first time.”

When the students get excited, Hunter can’t hide her own smile spreading over her face, be-cause she just loves her students.

“I enjoy teaching my funny, enthusiastic, bright, and sweet little fifth graders so much,” Hunter says.

When she was in high school, Hunter con-tributed to the school as a member of Encore. She still loves to sing and is on the praise team

at Round Rock Church of Christ. In her junior year of high school Hunter met Missy Weaver, the current BCS director of choir and Encore, who had recently been hired. They still have some great memories of each other.

“Carrie was in my first group of Encore girls who wore the polka-dotted dress,” says Weav-er. “She was a student who always worked to improve herself; it’s really great that she is teaching the fifth graders.”

In her senior year at Brentwood, Hunter played Mother Ab-bess in “The Sound of Music.” She says it brought back pleasant memories when she saw the recent version of the same musical recently performed by BCS students.

The summer be-fore her senior year, Hunter went to Okla-homa on a family re-union, and she visited Oklahoma Christian University nearby. She fell in love with the beautiful campus and excellent faculty, and decided to enroll there. Hunter recalls “exciting” memo-ries like serving as a member of an out-

reach mission club that went to both Germany and Northern Ireland for a couple of summer trips.

After college, looking for a job, Hunter ap-plied to several schools including Brentwood Christian. She still recalls the time when el-ementary principal Dr. Libby Weed contacted her, and she believes it was an act of God.

“The interview went pretty smoothly, be-cause we knew each other and Dr. Weed knew my character and personality,” Hunter says.

Weed says she wanted Hunter to work as a teacher at BCS when she heard Hunter was training to be a teacher.

“Her gentle, kind, responsible, and Christ-like qualities were evident when she was a stu-dent at BCS,” Dr. Weed says. “Even now as a teacher, she strives so hard to be a great teach-er, being adviser to National Elementary Honor Society as well as loving her fifth graders.”

Fellow fifth-grade teacher Cynthia Davis re-gards her highly too.

“Carrie is an answer to my prayers. She is organized and thorough and not afraid of hard work. Everything Carrie tackles, she does to the best of her ability,” Davis says. “But the thing I love most about Carrie is her love for the Lord. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and strives to serve and bring glory to the Father each and every day.”

Former students remember Hunter as a gentle but passionate teacher.

“We were her first class she ever taught in BCS,” junior Courtney Flores says. “I definite-ly had my funniest year in elementary school in Miss Hunter’s class.”

Sophomore Mike Taylor calls her “gentle and soft-spoken.” Classmate Grace Cammack says she never saw Hunter get mad.

“She was laid back but she was energetic for things we needed to do,” Cammack says.

One thing that is certain is her love for her “sweet little” fifth graders. Hunter works pas-sionately to find the students’ gifts and to lead them to love Christ.

hannah KWONreporter

Minecraft fad builds in secondary

A new addiction has been sweeping across Brentwood Christian. It consumes all the thoughts and time of those who meet its em-brace. This addiction is Minecraft, and it has become of the love of many of the male stu-dents at Brentwood. This passion has spawned two Facebook groups, multiple servers, and an untold amount of discussion.

Minecraft is a video game in which players, alone or with others, start in a world of blocks, in which they must survive and build to protect themselves against the monsters that thrive dur-ing the night. The game was created by Markus “Notch” Persson of Sweden in May 2008.

With no limits on what the players can build in their world full of blocks, this freedom of creativity has attracted many students. The completely modifiable world allows players to construct any building they please, from sprawling cities to world-famous monuments.

“The world felt so real,” senior Tyler Davis said, remembering his first time playing.

News about Minecraft has spread by word of

mouth only, as no money was ever spent on ad-vertising. But Minecraft has quickly gone from having a cult following to an international audi-ence. On Nov. 4, it sold its four millionth copy.

Many of the Brentwood players heard about it by watching their friends play, or seeing pop-ular YouTubers such Seannanners and Captain-Sparklez do videos about the game.

When several BCS guys realized they were all playing the same game, a server was made, on which the group can play together in the “same world.” But all was not well, as there was infighting between players. “Griefing,” or ruining the game for others, became common, and the group split. One group stayed with the “BCS Minecrafters,” while the others formed a new Facebook group, “The United States of BCS Minecrafting.”

“It’s is fun to play with your friends, admire what they build, then occasionally blow it up,” senior Carter Boyd said.

Minecraft has recently completed its full re-lease. Work is being done to make the game available to mobile devices and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Leading toward love Fifth-grade teacher Carrie Hunter, in her seventh year teaching, graduated from BCS in 2001.

Pink ladies BCS had 18 representatives at the Nov. 13 Komen Austin Race for the Cure 5K, where they enjoyed “absolutely perfect” weather. From left are Diana Yar-brough, Linda Allen, survivor Karen Peyton, Kay Taylor, and survivor Luz Ayala.

reporterjackson HAGER

photo: Mary Monacelli

photo: Submitted

Sports Page 6THE BEAR FACTS December 2011

Lady Bears playing well

Debate: students explore pros, cons of cursive being taught

continued from page 1Girls’ soccer off to slow start

Unlike last year, when they advanced to the second round of playoffs in their first-ever season, the Lady Bears’ soccer team is endur-ing hardship. Not only have they have lost all three games they have played so far, but one of their best players, junior Courtney Flores, suffered a knee injury during their most recent game that will likely end her season.

Still, new coach Brian Thrift has managed to improve his team since the first game.

“We have a relatively inexperienced group, but they come to work hard every day, and it has shown in our execution during practice,” Thrift said. “Our challenge now is to translate what we have done in practice to executing on the field.”

After their opening loss against San Anto-nio Cornerstone on Nov. 1, the girls lost 5-0 to San Antonio Christian on Nov. 8 and 7-0 to St. Andrews on Nov. 17.

m. j. SUNGreporter

Their next game is part of a Dec. 10 home doubleheader with the boys. Their opponent is Kerrville’s Our Lady of the Hill, and it’s their first district game.

Thrift and assistant Sierra Pierce are fo-cusing on the team’s defense, footwork, and conditioning. Thrift said there are several younger players who need to practice basic ball handling and footwork. He said the team is playing hard, but he expects they can play harder and with more passion.

“Our team goal is to win district and to give ourselves an opportunity to advance deep into the state playoffs,” Thrift said.

Although the girls have struggled with in-juries and scheduling conflicts – including the cancellation of a game due to complica-tions related to the installation of lights at the soccer field, the team has remained positive.

“We will continue to help each other and pray for Courtney’s speedy recovery and re-turn to the team,” sophomore Marisol Law-son said.

Huffington Post in March of this year said, “cursive handwriting instruction is disap-pearing.” Why would a minority of schools continue to teach what is becoming an ob-solete form of communication?

Cursive handwriting is not necessary for composition. Students writing in print have the same capacity to communicate through writing as do students writing in cursive. However, we insist on spending class time teaching students cursive. The biggest problem with this is that cursive is taking priority over composition. Students are being taught style over substance. Literary expert Steve Graham, along with other scholars, believes that students are not being taught to write well anymore, only to form pretty letters. Schools should abandon cursive handwriting in favor of compositional courses.

“Moving off the block of handwriting and

Rebound Junior Serena George is in position to grab a rebound in the Lady Bears’ 61-21 blowout of Hill Country on Nov. 14.

photo: Mark Merkord

looking at writing in general, there’s an aw-ful lot of kids who don’t compose or write well,” Graham says in an interview with an NPR reporter. “You have to chuckle a little bit at that. When you actually look above the third grade, kids are doing very little writing, and what writing they are doing is often things like filling in the blank or short answer.”

Students do not need to know both cur-sive and manuscript. Both are valid forms of handwriting, but print is more widely used and widely accepted. Students do not need to know both and so should not be taught both on school time. The time spent in the third grade teaching cursive to students could be used in much better ways, such as teaching students to apply their neat print handwriting to actual com-position.

Because after all, isn’t what you write more important than how you write it?

the second, 11 in the third, and 15 in the fourth. The Panthers, however, never scored above the single digits per quarter. The girls also played outstanding defense against the undisciplined opponents, forcing turnovers and creating offensive opportunities for the Lady Bears.

11/8: Thorndale 43-41 LThe Lady Bears faced off with Thorndale

High, leading in the first half with the Bulldogs tailing closely. But with several missed shots, the girls lost the lead in the second half despite an effort to come back in the fourth quarter.

“We played good, but we missed a lot of shots that could have won the game,” Orick said.

11/14: Hill Country 61-21 WJunior Morgan Vandygriff led the

blowout against the Hill Country Knights, scoring 11 points, while Orick scored eight.

11/17-19: BCS Invit. W W LThe girls began the tournament by

adding to their collection of blowout victories with a 70-11 triumph over Summit Christian. High scorers were Brunson with 14, Vandygriff with 13, junior Brooklyn Merkord with 12, and Orick with 10.

Brentwood’s domination continued with a 76-29 win over Tyler All Saints. By halftime, BCS led 39-11.

The girls’ winning streak ended with a 65-39 loss to the Austin Royals, whose size created difficulties for the Bears and helped them score 40 points in the first half. The Lady Bears made a comeback in the second half, playing more aggressively and executing better.

“I think we could have made it more competitive and played them better,” Brunson said.

Brentwood got second place in the tournament, and Brunson was named all-tournament.

11/22: @ St. Michaels 35-29 WIt was a close game until Brentwood

pulled away during the second half,

defeating them for the first time ever. The Lady Bears’ defense kept the Crusaders from scoring, but the offense had difficulties.

“St. Michaels was a weird game,” Loftis said. “We held them defensively but had trouble putting up points ourselves.”

11/29: Regents 42-18 WWith another strong defensive effort, the girls

defeated the less talented Lady Knights. Orick led the team with 14 points.

12/1-3: @ Tyler All Saints Tourn. W W LThe Lady Bears won second place in this

competition in Tyler, and Brunson was again named all-tournament. She led Brentwood with 30 points in their 58-47 victory over the

memory and in turn “suggests that the sensorimotor system plays a role in the process of visual recognition during read-ing,” Mangen said.

Cursive is a part of our history and heri-tage. Our founding fathers wrote in beau-tiful loops, and if we abandon this skill, our kids and grandkids will one day look at the original copies of the Constitution or Declaration of Independence or even more recent documents like “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and ask “What language is that written in?”

According to Maryland State Archi-vist Edward C. Papenfuse, historical documents are more accessible to scholars who can read cursive, and “cursive writ-ing is necessary to the future of sustain-ing our culture and our understanding of our past,” as quoted in an article by Liz

Bowin in The Baltimore Sun. Papenfuse also said cursive is a way of sustaining communication with the past.

In a growing technologically-based world, signing your John Hancock is be-coming less of a skill and requirement, but before we completely leave cursive hand-writing in its rightful place in history, we should consider the skills learning cursive offers besides the obvious loop-dee-loop, pencil-flowing handwriting ability. The consequences are far greater than just not learning another way to write. Neurologi-cal aspects such as reading skills, fine mo-tor skills, and coordination are at risk of declining if cursive is not taught or learned in schools.

Sure, what you write is more important than how you write it, but don’t we first have to have spatial skills, adroitness, and neurological organizational skills need-ed to write before we can acutally write well?

continued from page 2 continued from page 2

hosting Tyler All Saints Trojans.In the second game, they defeated Legacy

Christian Academy 27-23 to advance to the championship game. The opponent was equally talented and had taller players, making for a close and low scoring game for BCS.

Brentwood lost the championship against Bishop Gorman, 55-47. The game was even until the fourth quarter, when Bishop Gorman pulled away and Brunson got in foul trouble.

“They were definitely one of the better teams we’ve played this year,” Loftis said. “But I think this was one of the best all-around efforts we’ve put out this year.”

Page 7SportsTHE BEAR FACTS December 2011

Soccer boys hoping district will bring end to losing streak

Varsity boys gaining experience in losses to tough teams

Although the Bears have lost all six of their games through Tuesday’s loss at Cornerstone Christian in San Antonio, head coach Cash Miller and the players are optimistic about the upcoming district games.

“I have seen tremendous growth since our first game and we improve with every prac-tice,” Miller said. He added that Brentwood has played very good teams and that this will pay off in district games.

The players have also shown confidence. “We have played against really strong teams,

but I am confident that we can win in district games,” said senior David Lee, the only goal scorer for the Bears with two goals.

Brentwood’s best striker, senior Sangin Na, who still has not found the net, said he is des-perate for wins.

“I promise that I will score goals in district games,” he asserted.

Miller admitted that the main weakness of Brentwood is the experience.

“Each player has to understand where he needs to be on the field to support teammates,” Miller said.

After returning from the Liberty Christian Soccer Tournament, the players mainly worked on their ball control skill, which was greatly emphasized by Miller.

The team is still awaiting the completion of a construction project to install partial lighting at the soccer field. This will enable later prac-tice times for any of the outdoor athletic teams. The trench work for replacing a gas line and

rerouting electrical was still incomplete early this week.

Following are the results of the team’s most recent games:

Nov. 4: @ St. Stephens 2-1 LAlthough the game was scheduled as a home

game, it became a road game due to the un-finished construction. Many varsity players,

including four starters, were absent because of their roles in the musical “Sound of Music” that night. Though the Bears conceded a goal early in the first half, the game was not one-sided. The Bears conceded another goal in the second half by a close-range shot. Then Brentwood scored their first goal of the season with Lee’s powerful shot from a corner kick by senior EJ

Sung. Coach Miller said he was satisfied with their improvement from the opening game.

Nov. 17-18: @ Liberty Chr. Tourn. L L LThe Bears lost their first game 7-0 to Awty

International. BCS struggled to have posses-sion for the most of the game as Awty dictated the field. Coach and players admitted that Awty was clearly the better side. Sophomore Skylar Treut-Shaffer even expressed awe.

“They played like an MLS team,” he said.In a game later that day, BCS gave up four

goals in the first half to the host team. How-ever, the Bears did not quit as they forced an own goal from a Liberty Christian defender. The host team finished the game with another goal in the second half to win 5-1. Miller said he was happy with the way the team reacted to the early goals. The coach of Liberty Christian also praised the endless effort from the Bears after the game.

In the final game of the tournament, the Bears took another 5-1 loss to Oak Ridge Christian Academy. They conceded two unfortunate goals in the first half, one on a goalkeeper mis-take, and another on an own-goal. The Bears maintained the spirit in the second half with a free kick goal by Lee, but Brentwood could not handle the speed of Oak Ridge Christian’s strikers.

Dec. 6: @ S.A. Cornerstone 6-0 LAfter a long wait between games, the Bears

traveled to San Antonio. They conceded two goals in the first half but worked hard to come back into the game, taking more than 10 shots on the goal. After Cornerstone’s third goal, BCS lost intensity and proved vulnerable on defense.

e. j. SUNGreporter

jin ha JEONGreporter

Man on Sophomore Jin Ha Jeong and freshman Christian Montgomery battle for the ball in Wednesday’s practice to prepare for their game against San Marcos Baptist.

Back in the zone BCS defenders get set for the offensive attack of San Marcos Home School in a loss on Nov. 7. The Bears have won two games, both against Summit.

photo: Sam Boyd

photo: Michelle Dembosky

After losing all three games in the All Saints Tournament on Dec. 1-3 in Tyler, the Bears had a 2-9 record before heading to this weekend’s Cypress Community Tournament in Houston. But head coach Brandon Tatum expressed satisfaction with his players’ efforts.

“We played great competition, and I was proud of the boys and thought we competed well,” he said.

The varsity boys are currently working hard on their execution as they prepare for the district schedule, which begins Jan. 3.

“I want the boys to trust in what they do and do it to the best of their abilities,” Tatum said.

Senior Diego Cole leads the team with 12.3 points per game, and junior Matthew Archer is next with 9.1. Sophomore Mike Taylor leads in rebounds with 4.8, and sophomore David Powers is shooting 57 percent from the floor.

Following are the team’s recent results:11/4: Regents 76-56 LRegents had a good start and the Bears were

unable to catch up. By halftime Regents led 44-19. Archer scored 16 during the game.

11/7: SM Home School 63-20 LSan Marcos led 39-12 at halftime and never

slowed their pace. Brentwood struggled to defend their much taller opponents, who also had a good ball-handling skills. The Jaguars’ defense forced the Bears into lots of turnovers.

11/14: Hill Country 51-50 LThe Bears were two points behind at halftime

but turned the game around and led 38-32 after the third quarter. But after the final quarter Hill Country had tied the score 50-50, and the Knights scored the only point in overtime. Powers made several layups and shots, scoring 28 points.

11/17-19: BCS Invitational L W LOn the first day of the tournament, the Bears

lost 94-15 to Word of Life from Kansas. The visitors had experienced point guards who gave prompt passes to the other members of the team. Word of Life also had a big height advantage with several players taller than the Bears’ tallest player. During the game Word of Life forced BCS into turnovers.

The next day, the boys defeated Summit 48-32 for their first victory. Summit was unable to defend the Bears’ passes well, and Brentwood forced the Eagles into many turnovers.

On the final day, BCS lost 65-43 to Bay Area.11/22: @ Summit Christian 54-20 WSenior Diego Cole played his first game of

the season as the Bears enjoyed this rematch.

11/29: Austin Royals 74-30 LThe Royals had a good point guard, and BCS

was intimidated by the Royals’ pressure.12/1-3: @ All-Saint Tournament L L LThe Bears lost 66-34 to Brook Hill; 54-43 to

Frisco Legacy; and 55-38 to Canyon Creek. “Overall the tournament was a pretty good

learning experience,” Archer said, “especially for some of the younger guys.”

Tatum said he was still proud of his team.“Our goal was to be a better team this week

than we were last week, and I would say we accomplished that,” he said.

News & FeaturesPage 8THE BEAR FACTS December 2011

Juniors teach Bible lessons to kids, find they actually enjoy it

A giant Canaanite lurches over the tiny Isra-elites, instilling fear within all of their fragile hearts as he lets out a fearsome roar, displaying his athletic might.

The junior boys’ and girls’ Bible classes com-bined to form groups of five to seven people to create and teach lesson plans for BCS elemen-tary students. Their plans used passages from Numbers and Joshua, and using that lesson plan, students then taught preschool, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade on Nov. 16.

The Bible Class Design project was created by Bible teacher Dr. Brooke Hollingsworth last

year, in an effort to allow the junior students apply their Bible education in real life.

“It’s a good application of what we’re learn-ing,” Dr. Hollingsworth said. “I hope many of our students will teach Bible classes in church someday, and this serves as good preparation.”

In August Dr. Hollingsworth gave a presen-tation about the project at the Texas Christian Schools Association (TCSA) conference in Abilene, and the BCS elementary teachers ex-pressed interest in it. Afterwards, Dr. Hollings-worth emailed the interested elementary teach-ers and scheduled presentation times.

Juniors were assigned to type a lesson plan for her girls’ class or for boys’ Bible teacher Travis Pollard to review. Then they presented

their projects for the elementary students. Students used a variety of teaching methods

to convey their messages to their students, such as acting out their passages, marching to rep-resent the conquest of Jericho, the telephone game, and coloring about how the children trusted God.

“I really enjoyed it when the kids drew what God meant to them,” junior Dominic Ramos said. “It was really touching to see how God applied to their lives.”

In general, both the juniors and the children received the project favorably, while a few ju-niors complained that they had little time to work on the project due to the school play and other extracurricular activities. However, many

juniors enjoyed teaching the children and felt proud of their projects.

“At first, I was nervous,” junior Serena George said. “But then I had a lot of fun. I loved the kids.”

According to Hollingsworth, the projects turned out great, and all of the supervising teachers gave a good report.

“I was thrilled with how many of the students commented that they enjoyed the project, that they wanted to go back to the same class again, and that they learned a lot about teaching a Bible class.” Hollingsworth said. “The fact that I got comments like that from some students who did not think they would like teaching younger children was very gratifying.”

lanae HOLLINGSWORTHreporter

kia KHADEMreporter

Warming their ears Junior Jackson Graessle and sophomore Bryce Morin enjoy a break in Starbucks after helping distribute presents at the Chuy’s Parade on Nov. 26.

photo: Mary Monacelli

give than it is to receive.” Something as simple as giving time to help less-fortunate children have a Christmas or giving someone a card for a thankless job can brighten the day of both giver and recipient. Watching the faces of the recipients is absolutely priceless and will stay with you forever, whereas the gifts you receive often fade into oblivion.

At BCS, faculty and staff members are con-stantly trying to embody this tradition of giving by urging students to participate in things like canned food drives, Chuy’s Children Giving to Children Parade, and the Angel Tree program.

While traditions such as these are wonderful, other Christmas traditions around the school provide a festive atmosphere that creates memories that add a unique flavor to the school year. These traditions at Brentwood range far and wide, from book fairs and ballets to tree farms and theater. As she has since the 1980s, elementary principal Dr. Libby Weed reads a Christmas story to every elementary class. Classes are also able to participate in an An-gel Tree Program to buy Christmas presents for under-privileged children.

Every year the first-grade classes take a field trip to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm, where they select two trees to cut and bring back to their classrooms. This year’s students took their trip on Nov. 30. They not only got to enjoy the benefits of selecting trees and smelling them for three weeks in their classrooms, but they also were able to learn how the trees are grown. It is a favorite of first-grade teacher Geri Archer, be-cause of the Biblical lesson that is incorporated.

“One of the reasons we love it is that Twyla Nash and the others who work there … read a story and talk about Christmas and the birth of Jesus,” Archer said.

On Dec. 7, Brentwood fourth graders con-tinued at least an 18-year holiday tradition of attending the Nutcracker Ballet. Before they at-tended the play, the students spent time learn-ing about all the components that go into the ballet performance. In addition, after the show, students were served a formal dinner at which they practiced their manners and competed for the “Silver Spoon Award.”

continued from page 1 High school students participated in the an-nual Barnes & Noble book fair on Dec. 3-4 at the Arboretum. Special treats of those days in-cluded Encore singing and a book signing by sophomore Elizabeth McKinney, whose first novel, “Young Falcon,” was just published.

NHS members take a trip to Rosedale today to sing Christmas carols and spread cheer. Last week, NJHS lent a helping hand by setting up Christmas decorations and caroling at Pfluger-ville Care Center. The junior class ran Santa Shop Nov. 30-Dec. 2, affording younger students the chance to buy gifts for family members.

Capping off Brentwood festivities and tradi-

tions is the annual elementary Christmas pro-gram on Thursday, Dec. 15. In addition, many elementary classes have parties where they eat lots of yummy treats and have gift exchanges. High school students have tacky Christmas sweater day and Christmas sing-a-long.

As the Christmas season is upon us and we try to cram as much as we can into these weeks, we should remember that although Christmas is a time of fun traditions, it is also a time to focus on blessing others and showing the world what it means to be a Christian. In the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us, every one!”

Students from other lands tell traditions

BCS is not the only place with traditions at Christmas time; nor are Christians the only ones who celebrate. Many people around the world celebrate Christmas as a time to be with family and give. Some students at Brentwood have shared insights into Christmas traditions at their homes around the world.

Juniors Long Ho and Tiffany Truong say that in Vietnam people celebrate with trees, snow villages, and presents. Some Vietnam-ese go to church and then go downtown to take pictures, because all the streets are deco-rated by the government. Others stay home and cook non-Vietnamese foods, and many also order log cakes.

Korean Christmases are slightly smaller celebrations than American ones. Junior Gin-ger Huh says people often have small table-top-size trees and traditionally order “Christ-mas cakes” that have Christmas figurines on top. Individuals do not put up many decora-tions, but the government decorates parts of the cities, especially the parks.

Christmas is not a big holiday in Thailand, according to senior Tipp Umrod, but groups such as school classes have gift exchanges.

Senior Dorey Chiu says that although Christmas celebrations are small in Taiwan, the popularity of traditions such as decorat-ing a Christmas tree are growing because all the children are learning English.

Junior Sam Boyd says that Australian Christmas traditions include barbequing and going to the beach, because Christmas is dur-ing the summer there.

Junior Serene Nermal says Christmas tradi-tions in the Philippines center on Christmas Eve, known as Nochebuena. Many Filipinos stay up late, going to midnight Mass and then enjoying a feast at home. Decorations include a big star lantern hung on a door or window. Ner-mal calls Nochebuenas “very, very lively.”

Christmas at BCS